My research applies ancient DNA and stable isotope analysis to ancient Iron Age and Roman period skeletal remains from southern Italy. These two biochemical techniques are widely used as a means to identify kinship patterns, ancestry, and geographic origins of individuals recovered from archaeological and forensic sites. The questions I hope to answer by conducting this research range from the local to the regional scales of early Greek colonialism right through to the height of the Roman Empire. How far were these early peoples willing to travel before establishing themselves in the Western Mediterranean? Or, alternatively, how far did Rome project its power to enslave lower class individuals to work on Imperial estates? I hope to answer some of these questions using these novel methodological techniques.